


living in ruins (of the palace within my dreams)

by bisexualeriklehnsherr



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Multiple Character Study
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-02
Updated: 2014-02-02
Packaged: 2018-01-10 21:38:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1164822
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bisexualeriklehnsherr/pseuds/bisexualeriklehnsherr
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the enchanted forest, there is burst of smoke and a flash. And then there they are. </p><p> </p><p>snow white, prince charming, and the evil queen return. but old memories don't go away that easy. </p><p>takes place after episode 12</p>
            </blockquote>





	living in ruins (of the palace within my dreams)

**Author's Note:**

>    
> song title from lorde's "team"
> 
> And you know, we're on each other's team

In the enchanted forest, there is burst of smoke and a flash. And then there they are.

 

Snow White's black hair is down to her chest and yet it doesn't feel right, not really. Her gowns are too bulky, as if covering up a secret. She wakes in this forest she has known as a home for a very long time, and can't remember how to guide herself through it. Her husband is next to her. Snow looks at him, at his armor and sword and feels a nagging in her gut.

This isn't right. This isn't how it's always been. You are missing something. Why do you always have to be so oblivious, _Snow White?_

 

The Queen wakes up at noon, and Snow doesn't understand why she feels the need to help her. And why she seems so more worn out then the others.

What happened that made them all end up here, together? Come on, Snow. Don't be the daft pretty girl everyone knows you to be. You are better then that. Where the hell is your memory?

 

 

They part ways at the castle. Snow White gives her a head start, because some people are still asking for the Queen's head. For the first time in this body, the word _unjust_ floats through her mind. She quickly forgets about it.

 

 

They return to their castle, the king and queen, _Snow White and Prince Charming_. The fall onto their normal, four poster bed, and feel an electricity float through sheets. They turn to each other and ask the same question.

Why does everything feel so wrong?

They make love into the morning. Trying to remember, but only continuing to forget.

 

 

Visions of blonde hair float through her mind. Cheekbones like her husband, but eyes like hers.

Who is this woman Snow? Why do you wake in the morning, crying and inconsolable. Don't you realize what you are putting Charming through? Don't be so selfish, _Snow White_.

 

 

A local newspaper commemorates her, the beautiful regent, who put aside a deadly feud for the sake of her kingdom. Isn't she just the most selfless, most honestly good person in all of the realm?

The Evil Queen no longer uses her power for evil. Snow finds this out from the many loyal guards she sends to gather intel about the Queen. She walks through towns in a daze, and at night, she uses her power to give gold to the villagers that need it. She finds sleep in inns that are owned by people who live under a literal rock. And she always, always cries herself to sleep. The guard says that she howls into the night, but Snow doesn't like to hear that.

 

Anyway, that doesn't make the nearby newspaper, that's for sure.

 

Prince Charming doesn't understand his wife's grief, but then again, he was always a little thick.

There will be times when he'll wake up after dreaming about a girl with his courage and sword, and he'll wonder why his wife hasn't broached the subject of children with him yet. Memories of holding her while she screams in agony fill his mind, and Charming promptly forgets about children. Until the next week.

 

The Queen, the real Queen, gets her memories back first. Because however powerful magic is, Regina is _just as powerful._

 

Regina Mills goes to talk to Mary Margaret Blanchard at the royal castle just outside the enchanted forest. She tells her former nemesis about the blonde woman who was Snow White and Prince Charming's daughter, the product of true love, who gave up a son, Henry, for adoption.

 

"Henry was mine." She says, smiling through tears as Charming looks on in bewilderment. "I cursed everyone. And then I got Henry. And then I gave him up. To save everyone."

Snow takes her hand, quietly. An affection bottles up in her. In this woman who has tried to kill her so many times she's lost count.

 

 

Regina is not the hero of the story. Not even close. But when it counted, she sacrificed the one thing she loved the most, in order to save everyone. What does that mean, Snow White?

 

 

They have to go back.

 

They have to go back for Emma, the girl from their dreams that finally has a name and a purpose. For Henry, who was the catalyst in Regina's redemption. For the silly pirate two towns over who has been having the same dreams about the same woman, only with a slightly different context. Though they have no idea of that.

The Queen looks at the emotional messes of Snow White and Prince Charming and says the only comforting words she can think of.

 

_We have to go back._

 

_And I can get us there._

**Author's Note:**

> why can't we be friends?


End file.
